Play Pretend
by ohmytheon
Summary: While undercover, Jyn has to deal with a handsy target with Cassian only a few feet away. Neither one of them have a good time.


Author's Notes: The prompt was Rebelcaptain + "Pretend I'm not here."

Disclaimer: I got nada.

* * *

The mission had started out simply. Infiltrate a high-ranking Imperial officer's ridiculously large condo on Canto Blight, steal some schematics for a new ship, and get the hell out of dodge. It had been easy enough to get invited to the afterparty he was throwing there. With Cassian's cover as a fellow officer, Willax, Jyn posed as his date. But it was clear that she could've been invited on her own from the way the Imperial looked at her all night. He didn't seem to care who she had come with. Then again, their intel had suggested that Kaden had a thing for taken women.

Neither of them had anticipated that he would be so aggressive in his approach.

It had taken some work, but Jyn had finally managed to give him the slip and ducked into the back room where Cassian had already gone. When she shut the door and turned around, she found Cassian doing his best to quickly break into the desk vault to get the plans. Loathe as she was to admit it, he looked terribly handsome in his officer's uniform, all slick and clean. How the hell did he manage that?

"Any luck?" Jyn asked as she walked over to him.

Cassian huffed in aggravation. "I'm close, but I've been working on this for too long."

"I thought you were a master at picking locks," Jyn teased.

"I'm not completely familiar with this new model," Cassian told her, irritation filling his voice. "We haven't gotten the specs for it yet for intelligent officers to practice on."

Jyn leaned over the desk so that she could watch what he was doing. He was crouched down, working on cracking the safe. If his thighs were straining from the effort, he didn't show it, still except for his deft hands. He wore a very concentrated look on his face, brow furrowed, eyes glaring as if he could burn holes into the desk drawer with them. If he kept stressing this hard, he'd start sweating and mess up his hair.

It clicked and Cassian blew out a sigh of relief as he pulled open the drawer. After rifling through a few documents, he found what he was looking for, slipped it inside a slit on the inner lining of his jacket, and shut the safe.

In that exact moment, the knob to the room began to twist as someone began to open the door. There was only one window, but it could not be opened. Jyn and Cassian managed one look at each other before he rolled away from the desk and jumped up to hide behind a large curtain, making sure that he was completely hidden. However, there was nowhere for Jyn to hide, so she had to go a different route. She just barely managed to turn around and lean back against her desk with her hands on top before the door opened and Kaden appeared.

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped before he exclaimed, "Kestral, what are you doing here?"

A smile, more forced than she would've liked, found its way onto her face. "Waiting for you, of course."

At first, she was afraid that he wouldn't believe her. She had been playing coy with him all night, pretending as if she wasn't aware of his advances towards her. Much to her fear, Kaden looked like he didn't trust her, regarding her with wary eyes. He stepped inside fully and shut the door behind in, locking them in together. She knew that she wasn't alone – Cassian was only six feet away from her – but she felt so out in the open right now and they were not supposed to engage in any combat.

"Is that so?" Kaden asked carefully.

"Well, I couldn't exactly reciprocate my interest in front of Willax, could I?" Jyn responded, her smile broadening. She shrugged her shoulders. "I've never…you know, I've never been that kind of girl before." She took a breath and let out a sigh, her eyes darting away from him. "I've always been…"

"Faithful?" Kaden finished for her.

Such a strange thing to consider herself. Faithful. She'd never had much to believe in before. She had spent so many years disregarding the Force and she had never been in a relationship to be faithful in. Loyal was a better word to use for her. She was loyal. But even then, for a long time, she had only ever been loyal to herself. Her Rogue One family had taught her to be more. Cassian had given her a reason to be more.

And she had been faithful to Cassian, even if they were still mostly dancing around each other.

"Yes," Jyn said quietly, like she was a bit ashamed and even scared. (She was.) "I honestly don't know what made me come in here, but I–"

She never got the chance to finish. Kaden was on her in a flash, having crossed the room quickly, and pressed his lips against hers with a force that almost managed to knock her off balance. If not for her hands propped up behind her on the desk, she would've fallen. His whole body was against hers to the point where the edge of the desk dug painfully into her lower back and he had one hand on her face while the other was wrapped around her left arm.

All in all, it was not that great of a kiss.

Kaden was not terribly…unhandsome. He was closer to Han's age, but had the look of a man that had not lived a hard life. There weren't the same lines on his face that she knew Cassian would have soon enough. His hair was thinning a little despite his best efforts and he was moderately in shape but still heavier than Cassian. His hands were smooth. He barely spent time holding a blaster and definitely didn't fight anyone.

When he pulled away, there was a huge smirk on his face. Jyn couldn't hide the dazed look from her face. She had nearly panicked and had moved to shove him away when he'd kissed her, but at the last minute, she held it all in. She could just hear Cassian telling her not to panic.

"You don't know how pleased I am to see you here." Kaden walked away from her to his liquor cabinet on the other side of the room. Jyn was kind of glad that he liked the sound of his own voice seeing as how she couldn't manage to say anything. If she did, she was almost certain that she'd blow up. "What do you like to drink? Oh, never mind, let me surprise you."

This mission was going south fast. It was like a train off the tracks, barrelling at full speed down a hill, while on fire and Jyn was stuck on it. She didn't know what to do. Following orders had stopped being her thing after she was ditched by Saw and she'd only barely managed the skill so far since joining the Rebellion. Thinking quick on her feet was one thing, but improvosition was quite another and she was not good at it. Her heart was racing, thumping loudly in her chest like a warning, and she kept chewing on her bottom lip.

Nope, she couldn't do it. This was not good.

Jyn managed to shuffle around the outskirts of the room as he continued to talk, like she was trying to keep as much space between her and Kaden as possible. She couldn't do this, especially not with Cassian right here. Already having the other man kiss and grab her was causing a war in her mind. Maybe she could've handled it if Cassian wasn't in the room with them, but on top of anger, embarrassment and even guilt flooded her mind. Neither of which made sense. This was part of the job. They couldn't afford to get humiliated over simple things. And guilt? It wasn't like she wanted to kiss this guy. He wasn't…

He wasn't _Cassian_.

Without realizing it, Jyn had made it to the curtain, standing right in front of him, just a foot away from his hiding place when she heard Cassian whisper, "Just pretend I'm not here," causing her to startle slightly.

There was no way Kaden could've heard Cassian over the sound of his own voice and making their drinks, but he must've seen her jump. "Is everything alright?" he asked curiously.

A nervous laugh tumbled out of her mouth. It wasn't all that faked. "Oh, yes, just a bit anxious." Jyn stopped herself from biting her lip. "What if Willax starts wondering where I am? Maybe I shouldn't be here."

"Nonsense, darling," Kaden replied, rushing over to her. He set their drinks down and took her face in his hands, kissing her again, this time more gently. It still wasn't that great of a kiss. She gave as much as he did though, even letting out a little sigh. "My dear, you're almost shaking." He put a finger under her chin. "Does the thought of Willax finding you here with me scare you or thrill you? Are you frightened of him?"

Frightened of Cassian? Never, Jyn thought emphatically. She could never be afraid of him. For him, yes, but never of him. He was a good man, despite all the sins of his past. He had a good heart. He was good for all the bad he had done in the name of the Rebellion. And she knew that he would never hurt her. He would never hold this against her. He would never be angry with her for this, only for intentionally putting herself in danger.

"A little," Jyn said. "He's quite possessive."

"One drink then," Kaden promised her. "Later tonight, I will find a way to make him busy and then you can meet me in my room. We'll have plenty of time together without you having to worry about him."

Jyn nodded her head. She wouldn't have to worry about coming back later. As long as they could escape now, then everything would be fine. They could even make up a row between their covers so that it wouldn't look suspicious if she and Cassian up and left tonight. Jealousy was something everyone understood and it was very plausible. Plenty of people knew of Kaden's reputation with women.

Still, she should've known that one drink wasn't it. Kaden seemed much more interested in her. At least one of his hands remained on her at all times, caressing her inappropriately while speaking honeyed compliments to her in a low voice. It took every bit of her strength to not shudder whenever he pressed his lips against her skin or kissed her lips.

All the while Cassian was only a few feet away. Jyn was ready to jump out of her skin. How in the hell was he not moving a muscle or saying a word? Was he even breathing? Did he even care?

Oh, kriff, what if he didn't care? He was so good at hiding his emotions. Maybe…

"I've been gone too long," Jyn said, putting a hand against Kaden's chest and pushing him away. She set her drink down, forced herself to lean forward to kiss him lightly, and then gave him a sheepish look. "I need to get back before he becomes suspicious."

"Yes, yes, of course," Kaden replied. He gave her a broad grin. "You look stunning in that dress, Kestral, but I'll be a happy man to see you out of it."

How she managed to not gag or sock him was beyond Jyn to be honest. She must've still been in a slight shock from having to make out with their target. Did lines like that really work on women? She tried to picture Cassian saying something like that. She could hear the way his voice was drop, deeper, lower, and how he'd focus on her, his gaze on her body slowly dropping down… Okay, well, maybe things like that depended on the person.

Jyn scurried out of the room, praying that Cassian could make it out on his own. She spotted Kaden in the main hall shortly after her going to one of the tables. He must've gone back to get more credits so he could continue gambling. Where was Cassian? She needed him here. She needed him with her. She felt like she was going to explode at any moment.

She was hovering near one of the windows, watching the races and clutching a flute of champagne, when she felt a hand on her elbow and almost knocked the wind out of the offender. However, when she turned around, she found herself in Cassian's arms. There was a passive smile on his face, like he'd gone to the bar and was happy to come back to her. No one would've known what had just happened between them.

"Did you miss me?" he asked in Willax's accent.

"Of course," Jyn told him.

And he leaned down to kiss her, softly, sweetly. It was nothing like kissing Kaden. This kiss made her toes want to curl up in her shoes. He didn't hold onto her possessively or force himself against her. He let her lean into him, as if gravity itself had pulled her towards him. She was brimming with so much energy that she wanted to deepen the kiss, despite being in public, but his calmness centered her and she found herself relaxing against him.

When he pulled away, Cassian regarded her carefully. "Better?"

"I'll feel better once we're in hyperspace," Jyn grumbled as she leaned against his chest. It felt so good to be in his arms. She felt safe despite the fact that they were still out in the open.

"And out of that dress," Cassian added, a cheeky grin on his face.

Jyn did not stop herself from swatting at him and he laughed. How he could joke about things like that was a skill that she would never be able to obtain. The spy life suited him. He was made for it. Still, it sometimes left a lot of confusion between them.

"Kriff, he was so handsy…"

"Mm." Cassian's face was impassive again, but it was like he was trying to keep anything from showing on his face and not simply hiding how he felt. His hand drifted from her elbow down to her waist until it rested on one of her hips. "It was a good thing I'm not carrying."

"Oh?"

A rather uncomfortable expression crossed Cassian's face and he shifted on his mind. "I…didn't like it. Seeing him all over you."

Jyn grinned. "Jealous?"

"I wasn't–" Cassian scowled. "It was strange. Seeing you with another person. And he clearly couldn't tell that you weren't entirely enjoying yourself. I didn't like seeing you put in such an awkward position." He put his other hand on the other side of her hips and turned her so that she was facing him directly. The heat hadn't entirely left his eyes. "Now would be a good time for us to get into a spat so we have to leave early."

"I was thinking the same thing," Jyn told him. She had to fight the urge to smile up at him. Strange as it was, she liked hearing him say that he hadn't liked seeing her with someone else. It made her feel lighter. She also liked that he had thought of the same thing concerning their escape route. Couples fought all the time. Some couples, of course, fought together, side by side.


End file.
